Biron, second-period surge help Flyers edge Canadiens

The Quebec native turned aside 24 shots and Scottie Upshall and
Jeff Carter scored in the second period as the Philadelphia
Flyers recorded a 2-1 triumph over the Montreal Canadiens on
Saturday.

The Montreal faithful derisively chanted Biron's name in an
attempt to rattle him, but to no avail.

"That's all my family that's out there," joked Biron, who is
from Lac St. Charles - approximately three hours away from
Montreal.

"If you saw the list, I think there's 550 people waiting out in
the garage, that's what it was out there. I can remember going
to games in Quebec City and yelling (Canadiens Hall of Fame
goaltender) Patrick Roy's name when I was a kid, or whatever
goalie was playing. Then the game starts and now they're
chanting my name - for me, it's a form of respect. I'm very
flattered by the fans here that they find I should be a target
to try and get off of my game."

Flyers coach John Stevens credited his netminder after the game.

"He handles the puck well and plays with confidence, and that
allows the team to play with confidence," Stevens said.

Alex Tanguay tallied and Jaroslav Halak made 29 saves for the
Canadiens, who fell to 1-3-1 in their last five games.

"We knew they were going to come out hard tonight after their
(6-1 loss on Thursday to) Boston, so to take five of six
(points) on the road shows a great effort by the team," Stevens
said.

Montreal, which posted a 5-3 victory over Philadelphia on
October 13, saw its seven-game regular-season unbeaten streak
against the Flyers come to an end. In the postseason, however,
it was a different story as Philadelphia unceremoniously bounced
Montreal in five games in Eastern Conference semifinals last
season.

"I think last year in the playoffs, it was fun, and all those
memories come back," Biron said. "But now in the regular
season, it's about winning games and getting back into the style
of play we want to play."

After going 0-for-4 on the power play, the Canadiens are
2-for-26 with the man advantage in their last five home games.

"I thought we had some great chances over the first two periods
and we had a really great chance at the end, but we just kept
turning the puck over at the blue line," Montreal coach Guy
Carbonneau said of the ailing power play.

"(Our attack) worked for almost 37 minutes, take away the second
period. Every time we got the puck deep, we had chances.
They'd make mistakes and we'd have great chances. It should be
the same thing on the power play, I don't see any reason. We
have an advantage and we didn't use it."

Upshall opened the scoring 5:30 into the second period.

Mike Richards chased down a loose puck along the left wing
boards and waited for Upshall to skate through the slot. The
captain alertly wristed a shot that Upshall deflected past Halak
despite being covered by defenseman Francis Bouillon.

The tally was Upshall's second of the season and first in 10
games.

Carter doubled the advantage with 4:24 remaining in the second
period. After receiving a pass from Simon Gagne, he fired the
puck just under the crossbar for his 11th goal of the season and
second in as many games.

"(Consistency) has been a problem from early on in the season.
We've won some games, but there's been some times we've rarely
played 60 minutes," Canadiens captain Saku Koivu said.

"We have to make a defensive effort and not make big mistakes in
our own zone. Our skills haven't gone anywhere, we know that,
and we have to believe we can create the offense. But now, I
think we have to forget that part of the game and get back to
team defense and making sure that the puck gets out of our zone.
When that happens, then we can start thinking about other
things."

Tanguay halved the deficit just 9:44 into the third period.

After Bouillon wristed the puck around the end boards, Koivu
gained possession and alertly backhanded it to Tanguay, who
slipped it past Biron for his eighth goal.

Unfortunately for the Canadiens, that was all they could muster
against Biron.

"They were trying to find a way to get back into it at the end,
but our penalty-killing was strong, and obviously our
goaltender, Marty Biron, stood on his head tonight,"
Philadelphia's Scott Hartnell said. "We played well and earned
the two points."